Honkai Impact 3rd: My Days as a Captain in Schicksal

Chapter Ninety-Nine: I want to go see the cherry blossoms with my sister!

Finally, the priestess's hope vanished, leaving her only with endless pain and darkness.

In those countless recurring dreams, she resisted again and again, and lost again and again.

Until...the end of time...

……

Young Yae Sakura nervously crouched behind a stone, glancing left and right at the dimly lit steps.

"Nobody's here... Let's go!" Yae Sakura grabbed the little girl's hand and hurriedly ran up the stairs.

"Sister..." The little girl being led by her showed obvious hesitation and fear on her face. She trotted along to keep up with Yae Sakura, asking anxiously, "Can...we really escape..."

"We can do it!" Yae Sakura said, words she herself couldn't believe, and ran forward without looking back. "This time... we can do it! As long as we get out of here, no one will hurt us anymore..."

"As long as...as long as we get out of here!"

However, the little girl behind her seemed to have no stamina to keep up with Yae Sakura. She was panting and her legs were weak after only a few steps, and her pace slowed down.

"Where...are you going?"

A cold, slightly angry question shattered Yae Sakura's fragile little hope.

Yae Sakura stared in disbelief at her father, who had suddenly appeared before her, and unconsciously tightened her grip on Rin's hand.

"The ritual is about to begin... What are you doing here?" The god's hand forcefully grabbed Yae Sakura's arm, clamping it tightly like an iron clamp. The young Yae Sakura was powerless to break free from such a restraint.

"Give up, Sakura, this is her fate..."

Thus, the sacrificial ceremony was held once again as scheduled.

Yae Sakura's father, the head priest of Yae Shrine, held Yae Sakura's hand on the altar and plunged the ritual sword deep into Rin's heart.

Trying desperately to change an unchangeable fate, only to lose the most important person to you once again in despair.

This is... a shrine maiden named Yae Sakura...

A fate from which there is no escape.

In this endless cycle of fate, she constantly loses, loses, and loses again...

He watched his beloved younger sister die time and time again before his eyes.

He watched as his escape plans failed time and time again.

Looking at myself... powerless... falling into an abyss from which there is no salvation time and time again.

At the end of each story, she returns to the beginning...

To experience those painful fates time and time again.

———————————————————————————————————

"Sister?" A hesitant, soft call woke Yae Sakura.

Once again... here again... In that case... her next sentence should be...

"I'm sorry... Sister... I... I didn't mean to..." Rin, sitting opposite Yae Sakura, nervously twisted the blanket around herself, her eyes filled with unspoken tension and guilt. "I just... accidentally..."

"It's alright," Yae Sakura looked up and gave Rin a familiar smile, "I'll go make you another bowl..."

How many times has this conversation been repeated? A hundred times? A thousand times? Or...?

"No need..." Rin's voice seemed to carry a hint of grievance, "Anyway... even if I take the medicine, my illness won't get better..."

Please...please don't say any more...please don't say that sentence...

"Sister... give up..."

"No!" Yae Sakura suddenly raised her head, which had been hanging down, and shouted uncontrollably.

Rin, who was sitting opposite her, was startled, and the rest of her sentence got stuck in her throat, and she just couldn't say it.

Yae Sakura's face was already covered in tears. She quickly lowered her head, not wanting Rin to see her tears, but it was too late.

"Sister...I..."

Yae Sakura wiped away her tears, put the spilled soup bowl back on the tray, picked up the tray and ran out of the room toward the kitchen.

"No...please...don't give up..." Yae Sakura's upper body was slumped over the stove, sobbing uncontrollably, "If even you give up...if even you give up..."

"Then what does my persistence even mean...?"

Through countless cycles of reincarnation and endless suffering, Yae Sakura still has no reason to give up...

"Didn't we agree...we..."

Yae Sakura's tears slid down her cheeks to the tip of her chin, dripping into the iron pot containing half a pot of medicinal soup.

"When you get better... let's go to the mountain together..."

"To see the cherry blossoms..."

A scene from the past slowly surfaced before Yae Sakura's eyes. It was a cold winter night, and Yae Sakura and Rin were huddled in bed whispering to each other.

"Did you know that in spring, the cherry blossom trees on the mountain bloom, covering the entire mountainside in pink blossoms? When the wind blows, the petals fall one after another, it's absolutely beautiful..."

"Really... I really want to... go and see... but Rin's body is too weak... she can't walk that far..."

"It's okay, once you're better, we'll go to the mountain to see the cherry blossoms together! The cherry blossoms are so beautiful... just like Rin's hair..."

Yae Sakura's somewhat dazed gaze gradually hardened: "That's right...we...we're going to see the cherry blossoms together again..."

Her hands slowly clenched, as if she had regained her strength: "This time... this time I will definitely get you out of here... I promise!"

"I'm going to take you... away from this... endless hell!"

Yae Sakura poured herself another bowl of medicine, wiped away her tears, and headed towards Rin's room. But on the way, she encountered someone she never wanted to see.

"..." The father merely glanced at the medicine Yae Sakura was holding, "What a waste."

Yae Sakura pursed her lips but didn't reply. This kind of conversation had been repeated hundreds of times, and she was already numb to it. She lowered her head and walked quickly past her father.

"The ritual begins tonight." The father simply uttered these words before letting Yae Sakura leave. "Don't forget... your duty."

……

“Sister…” Rin felt a little uneasy when she saw Yae Sakura return.

"It's alright..." Yae Sakura knelt down beside Rin and gently handed her the medicine. "Take your medicine. Once you're better... we'll go see the cherry blossoms together."

"Cherry blossoms?" A moment of blankness and longing appeared in Rin's eyes. "But... Rin's illness won't get better..."

"As long as Rin takes her medicine on time, she'll definitely get better." Yae Sakura gently hugged Rin, holding her tightly as if embracing her entire world. "As long as you don't give up... our hope... will definitely come..."

Yae Sakura's tears flowed uncontrollably again. How many times had she said these words? She knew them as if they were from a script, yet the ending... without exception...

“But…it’s no use…the ritual is tonight…” The hope that had ignited in Rin’s eyes was extinguished in an instant. “Sister…I’m sorry…Rin has never told you…that actually…”

Yae Sakura's heart began to pound.

"Actually, Rin... what about the offerings for tonight's festival..."

Don't...don't say those words...

"Sister...I'm sorry...Rin is afraid she won't be able to keep her promise..."

Shut up! Don't say any more!

"Sister...you must become one..."

"Shut up!!!" Yae Sakura's sudden scream interrupted Rin's words, tears streaming down her cheeks and dripping onto Rin's neck. "We're going to see the cherry blossoms together...we're going to do so many things together..."

"If you give up now... how can I..." Yae Sakura sobbed uncontrollably, "How can I find the courage to keep going..."

“Sister…” Rin’s eyes were filled with complex emotions. Her trembling hand seemed to want to hug Yae Sakura, but she quietly lowered it halfway. “But this is Father’s order…”

"Let's go!" Yae Sakura suddenly released Rin, her eyes filled with an unprecedented determination. "We'll go...to see the cherry blossoms together! I promised you...and I'll keep my word!"

……

"Sister...can we really...really do this..." Rin followed Yae Sakura breathlessly. Her stamina was no match for Yae Sakura's, and Yae Sakura was running at full speed, completely ignoring Rin's weakness behind her.

"Yes! That's our promise...our...that's our future! As long as we leave this place...as long as we leave..."

"Where to go after leaving?" Rin's eyes were full of confusion and unease.

"Let's go to the future!"

"is it?"

Yae Sakura felt a tremendous force coming from Rin's hand behind her, pulling her to a stop as she was running, almost causing her to lose her balance and fall backward.

Yae Sakura's body trembled.

This scenario has happened hundreds of times, each time with the same person and the same place, but in different ways, shattering her small dream.

"Does leaving here guarantee a future?" Her father's cold voice came from behind Yae Sakura.

Yae Sakura slowly turned her head, her heart ashen. Just looking at her father made her weak and powerless, unable to even muster the thought of resistance.

That was her nightmare since childhood, the fear that began as soon as she had memories.

That strict man who controlled her every move... the head priest of Yae Shrine, her father.

"Do you want to run away? Do you want to shirk your responsibilities? If you just run away like this, what will happen to the other villagers in Yae Village? In this famine, will they... starve to death?" The father scolded Yae Sakura sternly.

"Are you going to defy the will of God? Don't forget who you are! You are the shrine maiden of Yae Village!"

"You are a servant of God! The meaning of your existence... is to dedicate yourself to God!"

Yae Sakura's hands and feet were ice cold.

"Come back with me, the sacrificial ceremony is about to begin, and the two of you... cannot be absent..."

don't want……

The double cherry blossoms stood in place, head bowed, like a sculpture.

"What are you still standing there for! Everyone... is waiting for this day! This day's sacrifice is the last hope for the entire village!"